


Everything Stays

by round_hound



Category: Adventure Time
Genre: Abusive Relationships, Alternate Universe - College/University, Assault, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Everyone Is Gay, F/F, F/M, Femslash, Homophobia, Homophobic Language, Minor Original Character(s), Physical Abuse, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Slurs, don't know if this counts as a, i just thought i'd tag everything to be safe, its not as bad as the tags make it sound really, some characters only appear briefly, specific tw's will be in the A/N for relevant chapters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-30
Updated: 2016-07-13
Packaged: 2018-07-15 13:53:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7225000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/round_hound/pseuds/round_hound
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Bonnie, an assistant manager at a candy/sweets shop near her university, receives an unexpected shipment of a new mystery product delivered by someone she never thought she'd see again, an unexpected relationship begins to form between the two.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Delivery

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first ever attempt at seriously writing something so apologies if it's trash!!! If you want to feel free to leave feedback! I have more prepared but depending on how the first few chapters are received I may or may not post more. We'll see!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> no tw's for this chapter!

Three hours to go. That wasn’t so bad. She’d sat through lectures that were longer and more boring. Although this shift was giving even Professor Wahlknoz and his tangents about cravings in Nutritional Science a run for his money (or rather for the “secret” pudding stash he kept squirreled away in the lecture hall’s utility closet).

Two hours in and Bonnie had seen a grand total of four people in the shop: Earl, who had barely stopped his grumbling long enough to acknowledge her coming in with a disapproving ‘hmmmmmmm’ and pointed glance at the clock (which was five minutes fast _anyway_ ), and three kids who thought they were smooth stuffing and entire display’s worth of James chocolate bars into their coat pockets (they’d called her an old hag while she watched to make sure they put every single one back).

Aside from stopping the almost case of petty theft, Bonnie had nothing else to do other than rearrange the fudge displays and wipe down the counter every time a stray dust particle marred its shine.

Being so close to campus, it was rare for the shop be so empty this time of day, as the students of OOU seemed to have an acutely developed sweet tooth. Boring as it was, she was glad for the silence. Lab had been hectic that day. Her partner Pepper had knocked a giant flask of sulfur gas off the bench. When it shattered, it had filled the whole room with such an overwhelming odor they had to evacuate, and they were still expected to complete their lab work after the gas had been dealt with almost an hour later (Pepper was on the receiving end of many angry glares for the rest of the period). Compared to the usually bustling activity of the shop, this pause was a welcome reprieve in her day.

“I’m on my break, Earl!” she called to where he was taking stock of the hard candies in their gleaming glass jars. She hurried to the back room before she had to listen to him grumble about her breaking early. The shop was dead anyway so she might as well. She glanced at the calendar as she grabbed her chemistry textbook.

“Earl? Are we expecting a shipment today?” She asked as she set her book and lunch bag down on the counter.

“I don’t _know_ Ms. _Assistant Manager_ , did you schedule one for today?”

“No need for attitude, Earl.” He had been bitter about her promotion since she earned it. Never mind that she was older and had been working there longer, Earl was convinced that she could never do the job half as well as he could, and he made sure he took every opportunity to (not always so) subtly remind her of that.

According to the calendar, a delivery was due half an hour ago, and it wasn’t one she’d called for. To her knowledge, they didn’t need to restock anything.

She shrugged. She had an exam to review for anyway, and she couldn’t waste time worrying over a late _possible_ shipment.

~

Bonnie was so involved in the chapter on equilibrium that she didn’t even hear the sharp, urgent raps on the glass of the front door until Earl screeched about the noise. She started and nearly tripped in her rush to open it for what appeared to be a monstrous pile of boxes with legs.

“Finally!” An irritated, albeit relieved, voice came from behind the towering cartons of something called ‘Pom Punch.’

“Uh, sorry! Do you need help??” Bonnie asked, still flustered.

“Nah! I got this! Just–nnngh…just tell me where you want these!” The voice was strained.

“Uh…” She wasn’t really sure. She wasn’t the one who ordered…whatever this stuff was.

“Sometime soon would be *huff* _great_.”

“OH! Oh sorry!” Punch…could be a drink. “Right, over by the…the drinks should be fine!”

The boxes quickly made their way to the refrigerated displays. They landed on the floor with a thud and a slight clank of glass. A person in a light blue uniform straightened up.

“Thank GLOB, between you and me, sweetheart—“ they stopped as they turned to face Bonnie. “Bon Bon? That you?” a sly smile spread across the familiar face.

“Marceline.” Bonnie bristled slightly at the nickname. “Nice to see you again.” The dark mane of hair that usually surrounded her face was swept back in an uncharacteristically practical ponytail, but there was no mistaking that grin.

A grin that grew wider as Marceline sidled towards her. “How’s it been Bonnie Bon? I didn’t know you worked at Candy Kingdom!”

“Just _Bonnie_ is fine, and I started last fall.” She cleared her throat “Wasn’t this supposed to be here almost an hour ago?”

Marceline checked her watch before shrugging with a smile “Hey, I just bring the stuff when they call me in. I don’t call the shots, _Bonnie_.”

Bonnie huffed. “Well, then. Do I have to sign for these?”

“Heh, oh yeah. You’re on top of things as usual, Bon Bon. Haven’t changed a bit,” Marceline teased as she propped open the front door. She grabbed something from the truck sitting in the empty lot and retuned with a clipboard, which she presented to Bonnie. “There are a few things you need to fill out, if ya don’t mind.”

“Humph. You haven’t changed much either, insisting on carrying all of those by _yourself_ ,” Bonnie remarked disapprovingly, taking her time with her neat cursive.

“The cart’s busted, and multiple trips are for wimps, Bonnie Bon.” 

“Only if you call _sensible_ people ‘wimps’.” 

“Bonnibel,” Earl insisted brusquely, the thin teen appearing next to her suddenly. “You are wasting the store’s time consorting with your friend, which as you well know is against Candy Kingdom policy, and you can be reported for—“

“ _She’s_ not my _friend_ , Earl,” Bonnie spat. “She’s making a delivery, and you are interrupting a vital authorization procedure. Perhaps you would like to file a report on _that_?”

Earl made a sour face at her tone and slunk back between the shelves.

Bonnie finished with a violent flourish of her pen. She thrust the clipboard back at Marceline. “Well, thank you for the delivery, even though you were _late_ , but I have to get back to work now.”

Marceline scowled. “Oh yeah, I can tell your little ‘kingdom’ here is _super_ busy.” She gestured to Bonnie’s open textbook and half-eaten apple. “Sorry for wasting so much of your highness’ time.” She curtsied dramatically and let the door slam shut behind her.

Marceline’s exit left Bonnie flushed pink. Had she been rude to Marceline? Bonnie bit her lip. 

No, definitely not. Still, Bonnibel thought Marceline reacted a bit strongly. Maybe some of her frustration with Earl had spilled over into their interaction…

Bonnie shook her head. Marceline had always been temperamental, even back in high school. It shouldn’t come as a surprise she’d react disproportionately to a minor quip. Besides, why should she care if she had been rude? Marceline clearly did not respect her enough to even drop that nickname she disliked so much. Marceline would be over it quickly anyway. The most memorable, and irritating, trait Marceline possessed was her apathetic nonchalant attitude, as Bonnie recalled.

She sighed and sat back behind the counter. She watched a while as Earl unloaded the boxes, putting bottle after bottle of the garnet red “Pom Punch” drink into the refrigerators before cleaning up her stuff. She didn’t think she could concentrate on chemistry anymore.

~~~

Earl didn’t bug her for a few days after that delivery, which gave Bonnie some welcome relief from his constant nitpicking. She had continued to think about Marceline for a while, but business had picked up as the week progressed. Midterms were drawing nearer, and students came in droves to get fuel for their all-nighters. Pom Punch, a “sweet and tart taste bud temptation,” was surprisingly popular despite its, as Bonnie dubbed, ‘eye roll-inducing’ slogan. Bonnie found herself having to order a new batch of it barely two weeks after the first had arrived.

The day the shipment was due, Bonnie felt a twinge of anxiety as she punched in.

Would Marceline deliver this order, too? What would Marceline say to her? What should she say to Marceline? Would it be awkward? 

“Stop it, Bonnie,” she muttered to herself. “Just keep it professional.”

There was no need for hostilities, especially if these deliveries were going to become a routine thing. Rudeness would just make things unpleasant for everyone. She didn’t have to like Marceline, nor Marceline her, but she could be cordial.

She just wasn’t sure Marceline would be as gracious.

Most of what Bonnie remembered about her was her penchant for trouble. It seemed like Marceline’s name was always being called over the intercom to report to such and such office to account for her latest miscreant activities. They weren’t friends, but, being in the same homeroom, Bonnie often overheard Marceline relating her escapades to her small group of friends (who were, more often than not, her co-conspirators). 

She wasn’t malicious. Most of her pranks were harmless (save for the one that resulted in the vice principal having an asthma attack after Marceline rigged the biology department’s skeleton to jump out of his office closet, but the school nurse was able to revive him and no permanent damage had been done). She even saved Elle Espy from being felt up by decking Bradley Lumpus right in the middle of the hallway. Bonnie had to admit that she admired her a little bit. She admired Marceline’s boldness, even if it was sometimes (often) over the top.

Bonnie thought they might have even been friends at one point, but it became clear that Bonnie was “too good” to hang out with Marceline. Marceline had dubbed her Bon Bon, she knew, because she was “sweet and snooty, just like the candy”. The name was perfectly cutesy and condescending, and Bonnie _hated_ it. Marceline would always poke fun at her when she expressed her indignation, so Bonnie tried her best to ignore Marceline’s existence. Which, of course, only made it worse. It wasn’t anything beyond irritation nor anything Bonnie couldn’t handle. But nevertheless, “Marceline” became a bitter flavor on her tongue.

~

Exactly five minutes before three, Bonnie heard the truck pull up. She didn’t realize she had been holding her breath until she exhaled as Marceline appeared around the side of it pushing a two-wheeled cart stacked with boxes.

Marceline, with some maneuvering, yanked open the door and wheeled the boxes to the same spot by the refrigerators, handing Bonnie the clipboard without a word.

Bonnie steeled herself and cleared her throat deliberately. “Marceline, in light of the fact that we will probably be seeing each other on a semi-regular basis from now on, I thought it best if we were to act more—“

“Save the speech, Bonnibel,” Marceline cut in. “I am capable of being civil despite what you think. You don’t have to worry about me making a scene or whatever.”

She was terse, but she sounded sincere enough. Bonnie nodded and offered a polite smile. “I see you got the cart repaired, and you’re early!”

Marceline shrugged, taking back the clipboard without looking. “It seemed like the sensible thing to do.”

Bonnie pursed her lips as Marceline mumbled something about ‘another job, bye.’

“Goodbye, Marceline.”

She was gone. Bonnie walked over to the boxes and sighed. That wasn’t so bad, she could deal with having to interact with Marceline every so often even if things didn’t improve between them. After all, Marceline said she could be civil, and…Marceline in a ponytail was kinda—

“Nope. Do not go there.” The last thing she needed was to think like that, _especially_ about Marceline. Marceline was rude and standoffish and definitely not a good influence. Bonnie shoved the deviant thought out of her mind and concentrated on carefully placing the bottles of jewel-toned drink into the refrigerated rows.

She ignored Earl’s somewhat confused reminder that shelving inventory is one of his duties. She emptied each box this way, fully focused on the task in front of her.

Bonnie paused, the last bottle in her hand. She had never tried pomegranate-flavored anything before. It certainly looked appealing, and she couldn’t deny that she was curious to know why it was so popular. 

She stared at it for another minute, mulling it over, and then put it with its companions. Candy Kingdom rules disallowed employees eating or drinking anything sold in the store during their shift anyway, and she definitely wasn’t going to violate store policy for something she might not even like.

“Bonnibel?” Earl’s voice interrupted her train of thought.

“Oh, uh…yes, Earl?”

“I would like to submit a ‘personal day’ request for May twenty-first.”

“You have plans that day?”

“Yes. Festivities.”

“…festivities?”

Earl nodded stiffly. “Yes. Celebration of my and Leon’s birthday.”

“Ah, of course.” Bonnie had met Earl’s twin a few times when he came into the shop to drop something off for Earl. The eerie exactness of their appearance was rivaled only by their matched unpleasant temperaments. Bonnie secretly thanked Glob that there weren’t any other positions open in the shop. She didn’t think she could handle _two_ Earls. “That’s…about two months from now?”

“Nine weeks and two days.”

She checked the schedule. The 21st was one of her days. “Okay, that should be no problem. Granted.” Finals would be over by then, so she didn’t mind taking a longer shift to cover for him.

Earl nodded. “Thank you, Bonnibel.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not _too_ too much happening yet but stick with me here!
> 
> also the first two chapters are a little short, but they'll get longer i promise!


	2. Scheduling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No tw for this chapter!

“Be careful, Marceline! Those are glass bottles!” Bonnie insisted.

Marceline set the next box down more forcefully while maintaining eye contact with Bonnie.

“Ugh! Why do you have to be so irresponsible and unprofessional?”

Marceline tossed her head. “Maybe it’d be more _professional_ of _you_ to not tell me how to do my job! It’s not like the bottles will shatter from a little force!”

Bonnie’s expression tightened. “You shouldn’t be using any force! They’re _glass_ they _will_ shatter! And _you’ll_ be responsible for it!”

“Oh I’ll be _responsible_? I thought I was _irresponsible!_ ”

“Don’t be pedantic!”

Marceline rolled her eyes. “Put away the SAT words princess I’m just a simple delivery girl.”

“Don’t call me princess,” Bonnie snapped. “And you know what I mean.”

Marceline laughed. “Sure I do,” she said as she reached into one of the boxes.

“What are you doing?” Bonnie demanded.

“Being unprofessional,” Marceline replied as she tossed a bottle from hand to hand. “You gonna report me, princess?”

“You are so…infuriating!” Bonnie tried to snatch the bottle from Marceline’s hand. “This is Candy Kingdom property, and you have no right to play around with it!”

Marceline laughed again as she leaned back to keep it out of Bonnie's reach. Bonnie felt herself getting more and more frustrated. Finally, she lunged for the bottle.

Bonnie knew she miscalculated when Marceline’s eyes went wide and she let out a little cry of surprise. Marceline stumbled backwards from the sudden force, taking Bonnie with her.

They crashed to the ground with a thud that shook the nearby shelves, causing candies to rain down around them.

Marceline looked up at Bonnie with unfocused eyes. “Ow,” she said.

Bonnie lifted herself, and a panic overtook her when she noticed red liquid pooling around Marceline’s head. “Oh my gosh!! Are you okay??”

“Hm? Yeah…I think so…” Marceline trailed off as her face began taking on the same color as the liquid she was laying in.

Bonnie followed the trail of red to its source and spotted the bottle they had been fighting over. It lay a few feet from them broken open and emptied, its contents splashed all over the floor.

“Uh…” Marceline said, still blushing.

Bonnie suddenly noticed that she was on top of Marceline, pinning her to the ground. “Ohmygosh I’m sorry!!” Bonnie said as she scrambled to get up.

She extended an arm towards Marceline. “Here,” she said, trying to avoid direct eye contact.

Marceline took her hand, and in doing so noticed the juice that had soaked into, and stained, her sleeve. “Aw crap!” she said. She felt the back of her head where her hair was wet. “Shit!”

Marceline stood and let go of Bonnie’s hand. She glowered at Bonnie. “I should have known better than to play around with you. You’re too high strung and controlling for that!”

Bonnie’s face twisted in confusion. “You call _that_ ‘playing around’? I call that being a jerk.”

“Like I said. Anyway, do you have anywhere where I can try to wash this stuff out?”

Bonnie bit back a retort. “We’re not allowed let non-employees into the back room.”

Marceline raised her eyebrows. “You’re kidding, right? Seeing as this was _your_ fault, y’know, by barging into me and knocking the bottle out of my hand, _you_ have a ~responsibility~ to help me undo what you’ve caused.”

Bonnie groaned. “Fine. Follow me.” She would have to mop up the spill later. In the mean time she put out the wet floor sign before leading Marceline to the back.

She gestured to the bathroom. “There’s a sink in there.”

“Fine,” Marceline said. She lifted her work polo up and off over her head, and Bonnie quickly turned away.

Marceline laughed dryly. “What, you never been in a locker room before, princess?”

“Whatever, Marceline! Just hurry up!”

“Of course, your highness.”

Marceline spent about ten minutes trying to rinse out her shirt, but by the stream of curses that came from the bathroom, Bonnie could tell that she wasn’t having much luck.

By the time Marceline emerged with wet hair in her damp and blotchy pink-stained polo, Bonnie had mopped up the juice puddle and replaced all the candy that had fallen off the shelves.

Bonnie couldn’t keep herself from snickering at how grumpy Marceline looked.

“Something funny, princess?”

“No~”

Marceline walked over to Bonnie and, when she was close enough, tossed her hair back so that it smacked Bonnie in the face.

Bonnie sputtered and wiped the water from her face as Marceline laughed. “Now _that’s_ funny.”

“Damn it Marceline! Bonnie yelled. “Why do you have to be so immature?!”

“Why do _you_ have to act so high and mighty all the time?”

“Ugh! Shouldn’t you be getting back to work?”

“Shouldn’t you be busy minding your own business?”

Bonnie gritted her teeth. “Just…go! You’ve caused enough trouble today as it is!”

Marceline’s eyebrows shot up and her eyes were wide. “Oh ho, I caused trouble? Who was it that _tackled_ me to the floor and made a giant mess? Made a mess out of my _uniform_? I don’t think you can pin the blame on me for that one, princess.”

“You know what, if you hadn’t been messing around that would never have happened!”

“Maybe if you weren’t such a _control freak_ that would never have happened!”

“I will _not_ be blamed for _your_ erratic behavior!”

Marceline rolled her eyes. “Yeah okay. You clearly can do _no_ wrong. Whatever Bon Bon.”

“Stop _calling_ me that!” Bonnie said as Marceline stomped out of the shop.

~

“How are your classes going, Bonnibel? You’ve just finished with midterms, right?”

“They were last month,” Bonnie replied absentmindedly. She stared at the pasta she was twirling around her plate repetitively.

She couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened earlier. How could Marceline be so childish?

Bonnie kept replaying the whole thing. Maybe she was partially to blame for…knocking into Marceline. She tried not to dwell on the part where she had been on top of her, or the part where Marceline had stripped off her polo, _or_ the part where Marceline had come out with her polo damp and clinging…

 _Anyway_ , Bonnie was still angry with Marceline for making fun of her and for antagonizing her with a new nickname. Princess. She detested it almost as much as she did Bon Bon. Their argument rang in her head.

Bonnie tightened her grip on the fork.

Her mother pursed her lips. “Well. Regis, darling, how was your day?”

Bonnie’s father frowned sternly at Bonnie. “Bonnibel, this is the dinner table. Either eat what’s been prepared for you or talk with your family. Don’t just slouch and fiddle with your silverware.”

“Yes, sir.” Bonnie straightened and took a mouthful of pasta. “Thank you for dinner, mother.”

He nodded in approval and turned back to Bonnie’s mother. “My day was great, Regina dear. I told the kid making my campaign signs I would let his traffic tickets slide if he did it pro bono. It took a little _persuasion_ but he agreed.”

Bonnie looked up, confused. “I thought Reina was making your signs?” She had specifically told her father that her friend was a really talented graphics student and could use the money. He had even thanked Bonnie for telling him about Reina because ‘a student will be cheaper than a professional.’

“Hm? Oh yeah, after I approached her with the project, she emailed me back about wanting a hundred bucks just to make up some posters and fliers and do a photo shoot. I’m not paying that for something that I know I can get for free.”

Bonnie sharpened her gaze. “That’s more than a fair price, father! She’s among the top students in her class and she’s—”

“Bonnibel,” Regis said firmly. “Are you talking back to me?”

Bonnie quickly looked back down at her plate. “No, sir.”

“Are you okay, Bonnibel? You’re not acting like yourself today.” Her mother looked at her, brows drawn together.

“It’s nothing,” Bonnie said quietly. “I’ve just not been getting along with someone at work.“

“You mean Earl? But he seems like such a sensible young man!”

“Well…no, not with him, with a girl who does deliveries. We went to the same high school. I don’t know if you remember her, but her name is Marceline, and—“

“Marceline?” Regis put down his mug. “As in Abadeer? As in the daughter of that bloodsucking leech of a defense attorney?”

Bonnie looked up, surprised. Her father’s face was quickly reddening.

“Stay away from her, Bonnibel. Her father has gotten more of my boys’ arrests off scot-free than any other slimy Mr. So-and-So _esquire_ I’ve ever dealt with.” He spat the honorific with particular venom.

“And I’ve heard she’s a degenerate, too,” he snorted. “Makes sense. Trash begets trash.”

~

Her parents hadn’t asked her anything after that, nor had she offered anything. The rest of dinner was spent listening to her father relating his campaign strategies.

She lay in bed for a few restless minutes and got up. She took her phone from her nightstand and dialed Reina, fidgeting as it rang.

“Heyyyyyy! Long time no speak, Bonnie. What’s up?”

Bonnie smiled. She had been too preoccupied with school lately to call, and it was good to at least hear Reina’s voice again.

“Hey, Reina. I’m sorry. I’ve been meaning to call you. I’ve just been so busy and—“

Reina laughed. “Bonnie, don’t worry about it! I didn’t call either…I’ve basically spent this entire week camped out in the studio. Sleeping bag, toothbrush, mac n’ cheese, the works. In fact, I’m here now.”

Bonnie cringed. “Speaking of art stuff, I’m really, _really_ sorry about my father. He just told me that he’s essentially blackmailing—or maybe bribing?—some guy into doing his campaign stuff for free.”

“Wow, what a way to build his platform! But eh, don’t worry about it. It’s actually probably a good thing. I honestly don’t think I would have had the time! Besides, I don’t really vibe with _the Chief’s_ politics anyway.”

Bonnie couldn’t stop the grin spreading across her face. Her dad certainly was a bit stuck in his ways that were, unfortunately for her, rather conservative. It was amusing to imagine her straight-laced father trying to navigate a conversation with Reina and her colorful wardrobe and newly platinum, partially buzzed hair.

“Are you still working at Candy Kingdom, by the way?”

“Yep. Why?”

“I was thinking about dropping by OOU to visit some weekend after finals, and I thought Jake and I could bring the twins with us to see you there. Finn has the sweetest little boy crush on you it’s absolutely _adorable_.”

“Ah! That would be great! I haven’t seen Jake in a while either.” The music buildings were basically on the other side of campus from the biochemistry department, so their paths didn’t cross too often.

Bonnie’s excitement dampened slightly. “Uh actually, let me check the calendar before you visit.” She wanted to make sure they were scheduled to be there on a day that Marceline was _not_.

“Why? Your hours a bit tetris-y?”

She laughed quietly. “No, they’re pretty regular. I just want to make sure there aren’t any...uh…scheduling conflicts.”

“ _Scheduling conflicts_?” Bonnie could hear the skepticism in her voice. “Bonnie, tell me what’s up.”

“It really is a scheduling thing,” Bonnie insisted. Reina was silent. Bonnie sighed. “Do you remember Marceline?”

“From high school?”

“Yes.”

“Yeah, she was in your homeroom for like two years, and she was one of the delinquents, right? Does she go to Ostenta Outré, too?”

Bonnie paused. “I actually don’t know. I’m not sure if she’s even _in_ school. All I know is that she does deliveries of that Pom Punch stuff to Candy Kingdom, and that her and I don’t… _get along_ particularly well.”

“Oh wow I _love_ Pom Punch! But wait, if she just delivers it, how do you two even interact enough to not get along?”

Bonnie made a face. “Well, the first time she recognized me and called me _Bon Bon_ …”

Reina laughed again. “I still can’t believe you don’t like that nickname! It’s so _cute_!”

“‘Bon Bon’ sounds like a _dog’s_ name. Anyway, I was irritated because she was late and calling me nicknames and Earl was being his usual self. I tried to end our transaction with something like ‘thanks, even though you were late’ and she snapped at me! I really wasn’t that severe, and now she makes some kind of smart remark every time I see her!” Bonnie huffed. “Last time she called me a control freak…and ‘princess’.”

“Well, you _can_ be a little bossy sometimes,” Reina said, amused.

“Was I rude though?” Bonnie pressed.

“Mmmm…not enough to make her really dislike you like that. Are you sure she’s just miffed about the ‘late’ comment?”

Bonnie thought back to the first delivery. They had talked, then Earl had interrupted and she had chastised him, and then the ‘late’ comment.

“There wasn’t really anything else that it could have been…at least, not anything that I can think of. I think she just hates me, and if she didn’t after the first encounter, she certainly does _now_.”

“I mean, I _can_ come on a delivery day and rough her up a bit if you’d like. Tell her not to mess with my right hand gal.”

Bonnie’s grin returned. “I hardly think that’ll encourage a better relationship. But seriously, I have it under control. I’ll just keep our interactions to a bare minimum from now on, and I could always report her if she gets to be too disruptive.”

“All right, and you can always call me if you need to vent! Let me know which weekends are feud-free so we can swing by!”

“I’ll check the calendar as soon as I get in tomorrow. I can’t wait to see you again!”

“Same here! I gotta let you go now though. I’m about to start sanding.”

“Okay, good luck with your…sculpture?”

“Yep, it’s a six foot tall _papier-mâché_ that’s in some serious need of smoothing out. See ya soon, Bonnie!”

“Goodbye, Reina.”

Bonnie hung up and settled back into bed. She sighed contentedly and thought about their upcoming reunion as she closed her eyes.

~~~

With classes ending and many students going home for the summer, business had slowed substantially. Bonnie hadn’t needed to call in a new order for Pom Punch for longer than usual, a fact for which she was somewhat grateful. 

Although, when she had called in to restock, she scheduled it for the 21st, completely forgetting that she would be alone in the shop. She didn’t realize the magnitude of her mistake until it was too late to reschedule.

Bonnie groaned as she unlocked the front doors. She had about four hours until Marceline showed up. She had resolved to not say anything to Marceline. She definitely did _not_ need her getting agitated without Earl there to serve as a buffer. Who knew how nasty Marceline might be if there were no witnesses.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fun fact: OOU stands for Ostenta Outré University, named after founder Ostenta Outré. ('ostenta' from ostentatious and 'outré' meaning weird...basically a stupid pun for college being weirdly pretentious, not based on any existing characters!) also wow look @ all those italics!


	3. Incident

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: assault, homophobic slurs/homophobia
> 
> If you wanna skip this part, it begins with "'You are one of _them_ , aren't you??'" and ends with "Before his blow could connect," so you can just CTRL+F your way around it!
> 
> I'll put a general blurb about what happened in the end notes so those of you who skipped it will still know what's going on. It's not long, so you can probably put together what happened with context clues or whatever but I'll still put it just in case!

The sparse smattering of customers throughout the morning had done nothing to keep the hours from running together, so Bonnie wasn’t quite sure how long it had been when she spotted a vaguely familiar wide brimmed hat before its owner had come to the counter. They’d come in right after an older couple and child and lingered for a while as others came and went. 

She‘d thought nothing of it. It wasn’t anything unusual for people to take advantage of Candy Kingdom’s stellar AC in the summer months. It wasn’t exactly sweltering in late May, but she thought this person’s outfit—was that a cloak??—definitely looked like it would prompt the need for central air.

As they approached, however, Bonnie remembered where she had seen that hat and…jacket-cloak-thing. She had to stop herself from wrinkling her nose. He was infamous throughout OOU for his passionate “sermons” decrying the “monstrous moral bankruptcy” of modern society. Although his impromptu preaching was usually shouted out on OOU’s central campus square, Bonnie had more than once seen him harassing students wearing “questionable” outfits around the arts buildings when she had gone to visit Reina before Reina transferred.

“Ex- _cuse_ me…”

The demanding and somewhat-graveled voice brought Bonnie’s attention away from not-so-fond memories to their in-the-flesh subject, who had made his way to the counter.

“Ah, can I help you, sir?”

The man leaned closer to her over the counter, and Bonnie swore the counter had never been that low before. “I noticed an offensive symbol stuck in the window of your shop. I thought you should be alerted to the vandalism of the storefront.”

“Uh…” Vandalism? There had been nothing out of the ordinary when Bonnie had arrived a few hours ago, and she surely would have noticed someone defacing the front window.

“Well,” she said, after a pause. “Could you be more specific? Where on the window is it, and _what_ is it?”

His gaze shifted towards the door where a couple of middle-school aged children were exiting. “I would rather not reference it aloud.”

“Well…I guess I’ll go take a look,” Bonnie said reluctantly.

The capped crusader nodded solemnly and followed closely behind her as she crossed the store.

As they stepped outside, a Pom Punch truck was pulling into the parking lot. Bonnie groaned at the thought of having to deal with both Marceline _and_ this weirdo.

“Excuse me for a moment,” she said to the man. She walked over to the truck where Marceline was just hopping down from the drivers seat. She straightened her back and quickly rehearsed the instructions she was going to give her.

Marceline turned as she heard Bonnie approach. She looked…different. Bonnie faltered for a second when Marceline met her eyes. Her stare wasn’t the arrogant or challenging one for which Bonnie had prepared herself, and the absence of attitude in Marceline’s expression completely threw her off.

“Hey Bonnie,” Marceline said before Bonnie had pulled herself together. “Listen, I thought for a while about what you said last time and…” Marceline turned her head away and kicked at a rock by her foot. “And I might have been a little…over the top.”

What?

Bonnie snorted. “A little? Try a lot! And you know what—“

“Hey! I’m trying to apologize here! I don’t appreciate—” Marceline took a breath. “Look, what I mean is…I’m sorry that I…antagonized you. I went too far.”

Bonnie just stared for a moment. Was Marceline really apologizing? That couldn’t be right. Marceline would never do something so humbling. Bonnie thought back to the last delivery…Marceline had mentioned something about Bonnie reporting her.

That was probably it. She had meant it in jest, but Marceline must have realized that Bonnie _could_ report her for disorderly conduct, and she was scared.

Bonnie crossed her arms. “Yes you did. But don’t worry, I won’t report you.”

“Report me…?” Marceline scowled. “Is that why you think I’m apologizing? To cover my ass?”

“Am I wrong?”

“As a matter of fact, you are!" Marceline practically shouted. She shook her head. "Is that what you really think of me? That I’m incapable of admitting when I’ve made a mistake unless it benefits me?”

“I…” Bonnie chewed her lower lip.

“Ah- _hem_.”

Bonnie and Marceline both looked. The man in the hat was standing there, arms crossed.

“Are you two finished yet?”

“I’m sorry sir, I promise I’ll be with you in just a moment,” Bonnie said. “Marceline, I—“

Marceline waved her hand. “Forget it.”

Bonnie rubbed her arm. “Do you need me to fill anything out?”

“No. I’ll do it.”

“Oh, okay…”

Damn it. This was not at all how Bonnie wanted this interaction to go. She had been going to establish boundaries, she had been going to tell Marceline that she wanted no more conversation between them than what was necessary, she had been going to lay down the rules.

But Marceline had completely derailed all of that, and Bonnie was conflicted. On the one hand, there was still the feeling that Marceline was apologizing to save herself. On the other, there was the possibility that Marceline was actually being sincere. If that was the case, Bonnie had just made a giant ass of herself.

She had little time to worry about it, however, as the man called her attention again.

“Well?” he asked.

Bonnie scanned the storefront for anything deviant, but nothing immediately jumped out to her.

“Sorry, but where exactly is this ‘offensive symbol’?”

The man’s eyes widened. “It’s right there, bold as you please! For goodness' sake _children_ frequently come here! It should be removed immediately!”

Bonnie followed his righteously outstretched arm, which directed her eyes to a small rectangular rainbow sticker to left of the door. She stiffened.

“Sir, that is not vandalism. _That_ is a sticker the store placed there to let our guests know that people of all…” Bonnie turned towards him and thought twice. “Well, _almost_ all backgrounds are welcome in our shop. Our sticker stays.”

He was still for a moment with his arm raised stupidly in the air.

“Our?" His brows drew together. "Oh,” he said, quietly. “OH,” he said, not so quietly, whipping his head around to fix a piercing glare on Bonnie, who suddenly noticed they were alone in the parking lot.

“You are one of _them_ , aren’t you??” he spat, lip curling into a sneer.

“Excuse me?” Bonnie looked over his shoulder at the door and tried to gauge whether or not she was fast enough to slip past him before he could react. She wasn’t in the mood to entertain whatever pseudo sermon he was about to deliver. “Anyway, sir, I have to get back to—“

“You’re a filthy QUEER!”

Bonnie froze. She could feel her pulse begin to pound in her veins.

“And they let _you_ work around _children_! DISGUSTING!” he snapped, voice becoming louder with each step he took towards her.

"S-sir, I—"

“How DARE you promote your DIRTY lifestyle where impressionable young minds can see?? How dare you interact with them while they’re ignorant of what you are?? How dare you TAINT them??” Disgust contorted his face, and he was nearly close enough now for the flecks of spit flying from his lips to land on her.

“I—I—“ Bonnie tried to speak, but her throat was too tight. Her breaths were shallow. She stumbled backward stammering with eyes wide, trying to say something, _anything_ to stop him coming any nearer.

He caught her shirt in his fist and attempted to pull her closer. Panic surged through her. She twisted, his grip broke, and she ran blindly.

She heard him behind her, and she kept running until she hit a wall. Bonnie realized she had come around to the alley at the back of the shop.

There was a dumpster to her left. She managed to scramble on top. She reached up to grab the top of the wall. As she was pulling herself up, she felt his hand close around her ankle.

Suddenly she was falling. She landed hard on the dumpster and rolled onto the ground.

“Get away from me!!!” she shrieked. She kicked at him and used the wall as support to get to her feet.

He stumbled, but then he lunged forward.

“PERVERT! ABOMINATION! SCOURGE! _DYKE_!” She tried to push past him, but as he bellowed he grabbed her shoulders and smashed her into the wall behind her. Bonnie’s head cracked on the concrete. Tiny flashes of light exploded across her vision. As they cleared, she could make out a raised hand. The other was still a vice on her bicep. He was still screaming, this time about what she deserved. She tried to raise her arms reflexively.

Before his blow could connect, Bonnie heard another yell, and suddenly his grip was released and he was no longer in front of her. She blinked. He had been slammed into the dumpster, now slumped on the ground with blood beginning to dribble from his lips. In his place stood Marceline, body tense and alert.

“M…arceline? What…I…?” How hard had she hit her head?

Marceline immediately turned towards her. “Bonnie? Oh jeez oh man, are you okay??” Marceline knelt down in front of her, and Bonnie noticed she had slid down to the ground, presumably when her arm was released, and was now propped against the wall.

She blinked a few times as she came out of the daze. Her vision cleared and she slowly registered Marceline’s wide eyes and grimacing mouth. “I…I’m fine.” She said as she picked herself up. A shooting pain at the back of her skull let her know that that was not the case.

“Hey hey, easy! Don’t try to get up so fast, you really hit hard.”

Bonnie winced. Pain and mortification contributed nearly equally to the expression. “You saw…all of that…?”

“I…” Marceline turned her gaze away. “I saw enough. Come on, let’s get you back inside.” She offered Bonnie her hand, which Bonnie accepted gratefully. Marceline pulled her up slowly. “Can you walk okay?”

“Yeah, I’m good.”

Marceline nodded. “Okay. You go inside, and I’ll call the police and make sure—“

“NO!” Bonnie blurted, another wave of pain punishing her for the sudden outburst. She swayed where she stood. The absolute _last_ thing she needed was her father finding out about this. He would demand to know what happened and _why_ , and she was a terrible liar.

Marceline’s mouth dropped open, but she recovered quickly. “What? Why on earth not?? He _attacked_ you, Bonnie! He’s _dangerous_! Who knows if he’ll come back? And what if I hadn’t—“she stopped herself. “Just, why?”

“It’s none of your business!” Bonnie could feel the tears that were threatening to spill and blinked hard to fight them back. Letting one creep go was much safer compared to what might happen if her father found out.

Marceline tightened her jaw. “Fine. I’ll drop it. But he can’t stay bleeding out in the open like that.”

She had a point, but the pounding in Bonnie’s head wasn’t conductive to creative problem solving.

Marceline sighed. “Well, he’s not hurt bad enough to call an ambulance, and I don’t know if I’d call one even if he _was_. I don’t want him to be here when he comes around though. I’ll call him a cab or something”

“What did you do to him anyway?”

“Introduced his face to the business end of my fist. You could say they really hit it off,” Marceline said with a grin.

Bonnie would have laughed under different circumstances. She managed a weak smile, and Marceline’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I think so. I don’t think I’m concussed, but I’m probably going to have a wicked headache for a while.”

“Well you go inside then and grab some ice. I’ll deal with the stiff.”

Bonnie nodded, which her head told her was a mistake, and went inside to the freezer where they kept ice packs. The cold felt amazing as she sunk down into a chair in the break room. The tears that she held back earlier spilled silently down her face. It hadn’t exactly registered before, but the fact that Marceline had come to her rescue hit her full force. 

Marceline. The delinquent. The "degenerate". The person whom Bonnie had, not five minutes before, accused of being completely motivated by selfishness. Marceline had tried to apologize, and Bonnie had thrown it back in her face. And Marceline had still come to help. Her stomach churned.

It was at least ten minutes before Marceline returned. Bonnie quickly wiped her face when she heard Marceline’s footsteps. She steadied her breathing as Marceline entered.

"Marceline," Bonnie said with a shaky voice. "I owe you an apology. I'm sorry I didn't believe you. I'm sorry I was so dismissive."

"Hey it's okay. You don't have to worry about that right now."

"But..." Bonnie's vision began to blur with tears again. "I so misjudged you. And you could have just left but you didn't and I..." Bonnie stopped, trying to keep the tears from falling.

"Bonnie. It's really okay." Marceline said. "We can talk about that later."

Bonnie nodded and wiped her eyes. "Did the taxi come? Is he gone?"

“Interesting story about that. A buddy of mine who owes, _owed_ , me a favor does garbage collection and he just _happened_ to pass by right as I was about to call for a taxi. It took some effort to get the creep in the truck, but as we speak, that piece of shit is en route to a local landfill so he can be with his own kind and _far_ away from here. Let him find his own way home.”

Bonnie just stared at her, mouth agape. “Are you...serious?”

Marceline placed her hand on her heart and put the other in the air, palm facing forward. “As the grave,” She said solemnly.

Marceline chuckled at Bonnie’s expression. “Don’t worry, he’s got a cell, I checked.”

“I don’t care about his wellbeing…I just wanted to make sure you won’t get in trouble for doing something serious.”

Marceline lowered her arm slowly. "Heh, that's kinda funny."

"What is?"

" _You_ caring about me getting in trouble."

"I mean...I've never _wanted_ you to get in trouble, but you seem very adept at causing it." Bonnie looked down at her hands. "And at stopping it, I guess," she said to herself quietly enough that Marceline might not have heard.

If she had heard, she made no indication of it. "Don't worry. He doesn't know who I am anyway, so he wouldn't be able to tell the cops anything."

She took a seat next to Bonnie. “So, what exactly happened? Why did he start coming at you?”

Bonnie studied her shoes. “He told me someone had put up an offensive sign or something in the front window and, when I went to check what it was, it turned out to be the rainbow sticker we put up.”

Marceline’s eyes narrowed. “And then?”

“And then I—I told him that the store had put that sticker up and that it was going to stay there, and then…” Bonnie felt her throat constricting again and her voice trembled. “Then he started screaming…screaming such…awful things, and he just kept advancing and…”

The last part of her sentence was choked off. Bonnie didn’t realize she was shaking until she felt a cool hand gently fold into her own. “Bonnie I’m so sorry.” Marceline spoke quietly. “You didn’t deserve any of that.”

Bonnie nodded and took a slow, deep breath. “Thank you, Marceline.” Bonnie’s voice was on the verge of trembling again. “I don’t know what I would have done if you—“

“Hey listen don’t worry about that. All that matters is you’re safe from him now. He won’t be coming back.”

“How do you know?”

“His address was written on the inside of his wallet. I’m gonna go pay him a visit later and make sure he never steps foot here again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Basically this POS assaulted Bonnie because he assumed she was gay, he chased her, and she fell and she also hit her head :(
> 
> The creepy guy is based off of Peace Master (you know, that guy that appeared literally once and was obsessed with fighting monsters and evil or w/e) and this gross 'preacher' guy that used to hang around my old university that was always yelling about people going to hell. There were several instances where he almost got physical with some of the students.
> 
> This will be the last time those slurs are used


	4. Aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no tw for this chapter

“Marceline—“

“Relax I’m not gonna hurt him, well hurt him any _more_ , I’m just gonna threaten him.” 

“And get yourself arrested? No, what if he calls the police?”

Marceline huffed. “What is it with you and cops? I mean, I know your dad’s an officer, but it’s not like he's omnipresent! Not everything goes through him!”

Bonnie sighed. “Yes it does, he’s not just an officer now he’s the chief. Everything goes through him. Even if he wasn’t, if you think any one of his officers wouldn’t go to him with something concerning his own daughter you’re deluded.”

“Okay okay I get it!” Marceline let go of Bonnie’s hand to hold up her own in surrender. “No cops.”

“And _no_ reckless behavior!”

“Yeah yeah.” Marceline paused, pensive. “He probably won't be back after waking up in a landfill anyway, but to be sure I’ll just tell him my dad will make sure he does the maximum for assault if he comes back.”

“Is that even possible if I don’t file a police report?”

“You underestimate my dad’s reputation. If this guy is as shady as I think he is, he’ll have heard of him and what he’s capable of.” Marceline’s eyes flicked up to Bonnie's icepack. “How’s the noggin?”

Bonnie grimaced. “No blood or anything, but it still hurts, and now everything else hurts, too.” As the cold had dulled the sharpness of the pain in her head, she had become conscious of all the other parts of her that had taken abuse. Now the ache was universal.

“Do you want to go home?”

Bonnie sighed. “I’d like nothing more right now honestly, but I’d be fired if I just abandoned the shop in the middle of my shift. My dad would go berserk.”

“Well, if you want, I could stay for a while and maybe help out? This was my last order today so I’m free for a bit…and I can't really leave you like this...” Marceline trailed off, watching Bonnie’s face.

Bonnie bit her lip. “I mean…” it technically wasn’t against store policy as long as she was there to make sure nothing happened, but she wasn’t sure if Marceline possessed the patience, or _tact_ needed to survive a service job.

Marceline rolled her eyes at Bonnie’s hesitation. “I’ll behave I promise.”

Bonnie felt her cheeks warm. “I'm sorry I didn’t mean…okay.”

“No harm no foul, Bon B...Bonnie. Do you want to stay here?”

“No, I better stay out there in case a manager drops by.”

“You expecting an inspection?”

“No, but they do come in sometimes to check up on us. It’s sporadic.”

Marceline snorted. “Sounds like a tactic to make you guys paranoid to me.”

Bonnie would have argued if her head didn’t ache so much. Instead, she just slowly got to her feet. “Well let’s go, no one’s been watching the shop for at least fifteen minutes.”

Marceline snorted again but said nothing as they made their way back to the counter. It was just as empty as before. Marceline dragged two chairs from the break room (after weak protest from Bonnie against moving store furniture) and they sat in silence for a bit.

After a while, Marceline began to fidget with the bowl of peppermints by the register. She hummed, notes in synch with her bouncing leg. It was surprisingly soothing. Bonnie felt her nerves finally calming, and she was in the process of dozing off when Marceline finally spoke.

“Can I ask you something? And don’t say ‘you just did’.”

Bonnie kept her eyes closed. “I wasn't going to, but sure, go ahead.”

Marceline hummed for a second and then turned to Bonnie, brows furrowed. “Why don’t you want your dad to find out you were attacked by that guy?”

Shit. Bonnie’s eyes opened, and could feel her face flushing as she looked away. “I…uh…” _Shit_. What was she supposed to tell her? “I don’t want him to know because…he wouldn’t let me out of his sight again.” That was believable.

The furrows only deepened. “But…Bonnie. What he _said_ , and he put his _hands_ on you…he deserves to be _punished_ and—“

“Marceline please!” Bonnie took a shaky breath. “You don’t know what he’s like. He’ll want to know where I am all the time and…and…”

“He’s super controlling, huh?”

Well he _was_. “Yes, you have no idea.”

Marceline laughed dryly. “Yes I do. My dad pretty much ran my life until I finally got up enough nerve to tell him off. He wanted me to join his firm, but I hate all that law stuff.”

“ _That_ doesn’t come as a surprise.”

She shot Bonnie a look. “Anyway so I told him I didn’t want to go to law school and that I wanted to…uh…” she paused and rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. “Promise you won’t laugh.”

Bonnie smiled, grateful for the change in subject. “I give my word as assistant manager of Candy Kingdom.”

She received a smile in return. “As good a word as I’ll ever get. I told him I wanted to be a musician. I play guitar. Well, mostly bass.”

“Wow! I didn’t know you were musically inclined!”

Marceline snorted. “You make it sound so geeky. I’m not exactly a band dweeb.”

“Hey! My best friend’s boyfriend is a so-called band dweeb.”

“I’m sure he’d be happy to hear that you refer to him as such.”

Bonnie made a face. “He wouldn’t like that too much. But, what happened after you told your father?”

Marceline’s smile dropped into a scowl. “He told me that I was his daughter, and as long as I was living under his roof supported by him he had the ‘right to decide how his money would be spent’. So, I left.”

“You left??”

“Yep. Been out of there for about…two years now.”

“But…where did you go?”

“I holed up with my Uncle Simon for a while. He was a really good friend of my mom’s from college, a professor or something, and he would watch me all the time when I was little. I stayed there for maybe nine or ten months, but he’s got Alzheimer’s. Early onset. He started calling me his ex-wife’s name, and it just got worse from there. He called the cops on me once when I came home after midnight because he thought I was breaking in. He threw an ice tray at me when I tried to explain who I was. It took me half an hour to convince the cops I wasn’t an intruder.”

Marceline stared at the floor. “Eventually it got so bad he couldn’t live on his own anymore. I tried to take care of him for as long as I could, but he needed professional help. His son Gunther arranged for him to go to an assisted living home someplace out west. He paid for it with the money he got from selling Simon’s house.”

“So you were out of another home,” Bonnie said quietly.

“Yeah…” Marceline looked up and saw Bonnie’s expression. “Uh, but hey! It wasn’t so bad! I kinda bounced around friend’s houses, crashing where I could for a bit then moving on. It was cool, like being a nomad or something. And then I met Ash, and I’ve been living in his apartment pretty much since.”

“Ash?”

“My boyfriend. Been together for about a year now.”

“Oh.” Boyfriend.

“Yeah..." Marceline rubbed the back of her neck. "What about you, Bonnie? You got anyone special?”

Bonnie shifted in her seat. “No, no boyfriends to speak of.”

“Mmm…how about girlfriends?”

“I-I…uh what?”

Marceline laughed. “No need to get stammer-y on me, Bonnibel. I don’t know which team you bat for, but I’m a free agent myself.” She said with a wink.

Bonnie blushed. Marceline was so…open. She admired that. They barely knew each other, much less _liked_ each other, and Marceline was telling her details of her life that Bonnie would never in a million years tell an acquaintance. Well…she supposed they were…friends now? Their relationship certainly wouldn’t go back to being what it had been, at least, and she was sure Marceline would feel the same way. It was strange, though, talking to Marceline Abadeer as if they'd known each other forever.

“No, no girlfriends either.”

“Would you like one, though?”

“That’s not…I don’t….” Bonnie bit her lip. Her head pounded with the effort of thinking of a way out of answering. The ache was too overbearing to push through, and Bonnie resigned herself to what was about to happen. It was almost comical that Marceline, who she had written off as callous and infuriating up until half an hour ago, of all people was about to be one of the first to whom she related something so sensitive. Only Reina knew. And, besides the pounding, Bonnie couldn’t help it anyway, not after Marceline had been so open and now that she was giving Bonnie a little outlet for the pressure that had slowly been building for months. Still, it was difficult to choke out. “I…maybe.”

Marceline grinned. “I knew it I knew it.”

Bonnie’s face was on fire. “I said _maybe_ …like…maybe.”

“Whatever you say, Bonnibel~”

Then, Marceline’s expression sobered. “Oh. That’s why you didn’t want…”

Bonnie looked away. “Yeah. If you remember anything about my father—“

“I remember he was a hard-ass conservative prick.”

“Hey.” She couldn’t exactly disagree, but still...

“Oh, right, sorry.”

“Well, you’re not completely wrong. And now “The Chief” is running for mayor…” Bonnie’s voice was on the verge of breaking. “He’s ‘in the public eye now, Bonnibel’ he doesn’t even want to be seen _smoking_ , so something like _this_ is the last thing either of us needs.”

Marceline was silent for a good while. It was ample time for Bonnie to compose herself. The ache in her head hadn’t yet subsided enough to think of a change of subject, but luckily the sound of the door opening and a gaggle of schoolchildren made it so she didn’t have to.

From then to the end of Bonnie’s shift, Candy Kingdom was fairly busy. Bonnie and Marceline didn’t talk much other than when Marceline had to ask Bonnie, for the fifth time, how to open the cash register drawer or something of the like, and when Bonnie had chided her for not being able to remember.

“ _Phew_ …” Marceline flopped back into her chair as Bonnie dug in her bag for the key to the front. “That was exhausting…how _do_ you do it Bonnibel.”

Bonnie laughed softly. “All things considered, you did surprisingly well for your first time.”

“Heh, even when I dropped that lady’s change into her fudge?”

“On my first day I knocked over the gumball machine. We were finding gumballs and bits of glass everywhere for a week.”

Marceline laughed. “Okay so maybe I did do all right.”

“Definitely,” Bonnie said as she finally produced her keys. “Come on, we have to lock up.”

It wasn’t quite dark outside yet, but the sun was slowly slipping towards the horizon, casting a reddish glow as it sank. Bonnie thought about the walk home, alone, as Marceline unlocked her truck.

“Hey, Marceline?” Bonnie asked, concentrating on twisting the key in the lock.

Marceline stopped mid-climb. “Yeah, Bonnie?”

“Do you uh…can um…can I get a ride?” She asked, eyes still fixed on the door.

Marceline smiled. “Not a problem. Hop in.”

She didn’t live far. It was about a fifteen-minute walk, ten if she was motivated, so they were there in no time at all. Bonnie had Marceline stop a block away.

“I…thank you, Marceline.”

Marceline’s smile was gentle. It looked out of place, but it suited her, Bonnie thought.

“Don’t mention it, Bonnie.”

Bonnie smiled back. “Goodnight, Marceline.”

As she turned to walk towards her house, she heard rustling from the truck.

“Bonnie, wait!”

She turned back and Marceline was scribbling furiously on a scrap of paper with a severely chewed pen. She thrust the scrap towards Bonnie through the passenger side window.

“Uh here. Its my number in case uh…in case you need anything else.”

Bonnie reached for the paper automatically. She was still trying to process what Marceline said as Marceline rushed out a goodbye and sped away. If Bonnie didn’t know better, she could have sworn she saw Marceline’s cheeks tint pink before she drove off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was originally the second half of the third chapter, but all together it was way too long so I split it up. Thats why this chapter is kinda short (and it's also why they were posted together lol). From this point on chapters should be a little more consistent lengthwise :)


	5. Invitation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no tw's for this chapter!

It was a few days before Bonnie could think without her brain throbbing against the inside of her skull and a week before she could bring herself to even think about going back to work. She told her parents that she wasn’t feeling well and called in so someone could cover her shifts.

Bonnie kept jerking awake in the middle of the night with her heart jackhammering in her chest and lungs straining against her ribcage. She felt her head crack against that wall again and again while a dark figure loomed over her and screamed, only stopping when Bonnie managed to tear herself away from the nightmare and into consciousness. It took some time to convince her pounding heart that he was not a threat there in her bedroom so she could go back to sleep. Though, even after the adrenaline had ceased rushing through her, she often couldn’t manage to drift off again.

She wondered if Marceline had really gone back to threaten him. She had picked up her phone multiple times, Marceline’s number in hand, but she couldn’t think of what she would say. Should she just ask? Should she thank her again? Were they friends now…could she just call to talk about...whatever?

The uncertainty won out every time.

Eventually her mother became concerned. “Bonnibel, you can’t stay in your room forever without any human contact or fresh air. Your father and I would like you to return to work or to at least get out of the house for a bit.”

“Yes, mother. My next shift is Saturday.” Two days away, and the day Reina was set to visit. Bonnie would never have missed it.

Still, the thought of returning and of possibly running into _him_ again set Bonnie on edge. Saturday morning she held Marceline’s number in her hands, turning it over while debating whether or not to ask for a ride. It was still hours before her shift would actually start, but she always went in early to set everything up (partially because she didn't trust anyone else to do it the _right_ way). She decided it was too imposing and pocketed the scrap.

~

Bonnie unlocked the shop door and quickly darted inside. She’d not seen anyone on her walk over, and the familiarity of the shop calmed her nerves somewhat. Just as she was finishing setting up for the day, she heard the front door bells chime.

She froze for a moment before realizing who it probably was. She spoke as she turned. “Reina, it’s so good to—oh!”

Instead of Reina, Marceline stood just inside the doorway with one arm crossing her body to hold the other. “Uh…hey, Bonnie.”

Bonnie’s initial surprise faded. “Hello, Marceline. I didn’t expect you today.”

There was no delivery scheduled, after all. In fact, Marceline wasn’t even in her uniform, the practical blue polo and pants had been swapped for what looked like a band t-shirt and skinny jeans.

“Oh well yeah I uh…came by the other day to check on how you were doing, but you weren’t here so I asked the other lady behind the counter and she said you were out sick and I was gonna call but then I realized I ah…didn’t have your number so I’ve been dropping by every so often…ya know, to see if you were back.”

Marceline jammed her hands in her pockets and shuffled her feet as she spoke. Bonnie wondered at her behavior, but the last part caught her attention.

“Oh! Oh I’m sorry I meant to call, but I was…pretty busy this week.”

“Oh. Okay. So uh...how are you? I mean…yeah, how’re you doing?”

“I’m okay. The headaches have pretty much gone away, and the swelling’s gone down significantly.”

Marceline squinted at her. “No, I mean how _are_ you?”

“I’m fine,” she said. Marceline narrowed her gaze further. Bonnie sighed. “ _Really_ , I am. I wasn’t for a bit, but…I think I’m okay now. And besides, I’m expecting someone today so I had to be here to—“

She was cut off by a jubilant call and the ringing of the door chimes. “Bonnie!!!”

Suddenly, Reina was rushing past Marceline to embrace her, rather tightly, before she had time to react. 

“Oh my god, Reina!” Bonnie managed to get out before Reina released her. “I’m so glad you made it!!! Hello, Jake!”

Jake, who was busy ushering in two relatively rambunctious kids, could only smile and nod at the salutation.

Bonnie grinned at the twins. “Hi Fionna, hi Finn.”

Fionna flashed back a smile that was a few baby teeth short of complete, but brilliant nonetheless. Finn, upon hearing his name uttered by Bonnie, quieted down immediately and brought his hands to his cheeks to hide the pinkness that was creeping up from his neck.

Bonnie caught Reina’s confused expression and turned to follow her gaze. “Oh, right. Marceline, this is Reina, Jake, Fionna, and Finn. Everyone, Marceline.”

Marceline gave a crooked smile that was almost more of a wince. “Hey everyone.”

“Mm hello…” Reina allowed herself to smile back. “Bonnie! Come here for a sec.”

Reina drew Bonnie to the side. “Bonnie, what’s up? Why is she here? I thought you two were mortal enemies or something.”

“Well, not anymore really. It’s kind of a long story, but what matters now is that we’re…okay now.”

Reina’s face was not one that was convinced. “A long story? Bonnie, come on. When I talked to you, you were convinced that she _hated_ you like…and now she’s visiting you at work? That’s quite a turn around.”

“I know, I know, but…I misjudged her, Rei.” Bonnie glanced over to where Marceline was talking with the twins.

Finn was pointing at her arm. “Miss Marceline, why are you so pale? It’s the summer right? Doesn’t the sun tan you?” He asked, holding his own little brown arm against hers for comparison.

“Finn, don’t be rude,” Jake chided. “People come in all kinds of shades, bud, you know that.”

Marceline let out a small laugh. “You wanna know why?” She leaned in close, grinning. “You really wanna know?” she whispered.

The twins nodded eagerly, and Marceline became serious.

“It’s because long ago, I used to live alone on the edge of a dark, dense forest," she began, lowering her voice in both tone and volume. "And one night I was heading home, and I decided to take a short cut through the woods. It was cold and dark, and I could see eyes reflecting the beam from my flashlight just beyond the path. Right as it struck midnight, I heard rustling behind me.”

Now it was the twins who leaned in close, eyes wide and rapt with attention.

“I turned around, and standing there in the moonlight was a strange man I had never seen before.”

“What did you do?” Fionna whispered.

“I asked him who he was.”

“What did he say?” Finn asked.

Marceline smiled. “He didn’t say anything. He just smiled at me with his long, sharp, dripping fangs.”

Finn and Fionna gasped quietly.

Marceline continued. “I ran as fast as I could until I got to my house, and I slammed the door shut behind me.” She paused. “I thought I was safe, but, when I looked in the mirror, I saw _this_ …”

Marceline moved her hair and gestured to her neck. The twins leaned in further to see.

“AND I BECAME A VAMPIRE!” Marceline said suddenly, reaching out with clawing hands as if to grab them. "BLEH!"

The twins squealed and laughed as Marceline chased them around the store.

Reina raised her eyebrows as Bonnie tried to hide her smile behind her hand. “Well, I guess if you two are getting along, and you’re sure, she’s fine by me. But you’re gonna have to tell me _why_ eventually.”

“I will. I promise. Just…not now.”

Reina nodded. “That works,” she said. She turned towards the twins, who were in the process of vanquishing their foe.

“All right squirts, time to head out! We need to get to T.T.’s before the lunch rush starts. You ready, Bonnie?”

“Oh yeah…you guys go ahead I’ll catch up. I have to grab my stuff from the back.”

Reina and Jake shepherded the kids out to the car. Marceline got up from where she had been ‘slain’ and tried to wipe off her pants. Bonnie hesitated before going to get her things.

“Hey uh…thanks, Marceline. I really appreciate you coming here, and I appreciate you uh…”

“Not picking a fight in front of your friends?” Marceline offered wryly.

“Ha _ha_. No, for handling the twins so well. They can be a little, boisterous, and you were...really nice.”

A light pink dusted Marceline’s cheeks. “Oh. Yeah well, no problem. I’m pretty good with kids, I guess. They seem like a good time.”

Marceline’s shirt was still covered in dust from the floor. Bonnie gestured to it. “Yeah I can tell you guys had fun.”

Marceline looked down. “Aw crap and we’re practicing later. Ash is gonna be pissed.”

“Practice?”

Marceline looked back at Bonnie as she began brushing off the dirt. “The band Ash and I are in.” She tugged at her shirt. “Ashwood. We do gigs over at Nightosphere mostly. These shirts are a bit of shameless self promotion.”

Bonnie leaned in and peered at the shirt more closely. “Huh, it’s a very…interesting design.” The design in question featured two severed heads mounted on stakes with a snake winding around the base of each. Rather distasteful, really, but Bonnie kept that to herself.

“I could get you one if you want. We’re playing next Saturday and we’ll have more of these and CDs n’ merch stuff. You could come if you want and grab one…you don’t have to stay or anything if you don’t want…”

Bonnie looked up at Marceline, eyebrows raised. “You’re inviting me to your show?” The coolest thing Bonnie had ever been invited to had been Reina's 15th birthday party at the laser tag arena. It was hard to picture herself as someone who might actually be invited by Marceline normally. Bonnie supposed this was Marceline's way of confirming that they were friends.

“Well! I mean…its not MY show it’s the band’s and uh like I said you don’t have to…“

Bonnie was hesitant. She'd never been to a show before. It was new territory, but she felt like she owed Marceline at least enough to give it a chance. “What time should I get there?”

Marceline smiled slowly. “We start setting up around nine and we go on at ten.”

“Okay, I’ll see you then.”

“Okay,” Marceline echoed.

Reina poked her head in through the door. “Bonnie, hurry _up_! The twins are getting restless!”

“Right. Sorry, be out in a moment!” Bonnie hurried to the back room and grabbed her wallet and phone and told Earl, who insisted he had _not_ just been napping, that she’d be back in an hour or so. She paused briefly in front of the Pom Punch displays, debating whether or not to grab one to go with lunch. Her decision-making was cut short by the blare of Jake’s horn. She hurried out the door.

Bonnie caught up to Marceline in the parking lot. “I’ll see you later, Marceline.”

“Bye, Bonnie, have fun with the tykes.”

~~~

“All right Bonnie, spill it.” With the twins put to bed, and Jake knocked out on the living room sofa, Reina and Bonnie were left alone in Bonnie’s room, and Reina was the opportunistic type. “What’s up with you and Marceline? And I’m gonna need details.”

Bonnie sighed. Reina’s piercing gaze eliminated any chance she might have had to dodge the subject.

“Okay…do you remember that preachy jackass that hangs around campus and told you once that your flower pattern skirt was the devil’s garment?”

Reina snorted. “Yep, ‘flashy prints are for the fiery pits’ how could I forget.”

“Yeah, well he came in about a week ago…”

As Bonnie recounted what happened, Reina’s eyes grew wider, and Bonnie could tell it took herculean effort for Reina to hold back the rage from bursting out and interrupting.

When Bonnie was finished, however, Reina let it loose.

“OH MY GOD HOW DARE HE?? THAT PIECE OF SHIT!! WHERE IS HE NOW WHERE DOES HE LIVE??” she paused, still boiling, to take a few breaths. “Why didn’t you call the police?” she asked, more quietly.

Bonnie bit her lip. “I actually don’t know where he lives or anything. Marceline said she would take care of it. And…I just couldn’t, Reina. I couldn’t have my father knowing what happened.”

Reina was incredulous. “Why on earth not, Bonnie?? That creep needs to be put away! Who knows how many other people he’s assaulted! What he did to you is unforgivable!”

“I know, I know. I just…he’ll ask about the circumstances. He’ll have to interrogate him and find out what his motive was, and…I can’t, Reina.”

Reina stared at Bonnie for a moment and then drew her into her embrace.

“I’m so sorry, Bonnie. I’m so glad you’re okay now, and if you need anything or to talk, for _whatever_ reason” Reina hugged her tighter. “I’ll be here for you.”

Bonnie could feel the tears slide down her face. “Thank you, Reina.”

Reina released her and allowed her time to wipe the wetness from her face before speaking again.

“So…Marceline and you are friends now then I guess, right? And like, wow, I would never have expected heroics from her, but thank goodness she was there.”

Bonnie fidgeted with her hands. “I suppose we are…I haven’t really spoken to her since then until today. And, yeah, I was surprised too. I remember thinking I hit my head harder than I initially thought.”

Reina laughed a little. “Are you sure you’re okay? You weren’t concussed or anything?”

“Really, I’m fine. I had some pretty bad headaches for a bit but they’ve subsided.”

“How _are_ you though?”

Bonnie chewed her lip again. “I…I’ve had some nightmares. I guess I was really shaken up. And…I still feel like…like he could show up at any time. Just pop out of nowhere or something.”

She wrapped her arms around herself and rubbed her arms as she spoke. Reina put a comforting arm around Bonnie’s shoulders.

“Oh, Bonnie. It’s going to be okay. You said Marceline took care of him, right?”

“Yeah, something about threatening him with a lawsuit if he ever came near Candy Kingdom again. You remember her dad’s that shady attorney?”

Reina nodded. “Well, that’s a pretty solid threat. I think you’ll be all right, Bonnie.”

“Yeah.”

They sat in silence for a while before calling it a night.

~~~

Reina threw herself onto the bed dramatically. “For goodness sake, Bonnie! Just pick something!”

“I’ve never been to a concert before! How am I supposed to know what the appropriate attire is?”

“It’s anything that makes you look like someone who _wouldn’t_ use the phrase ‘appropriate attire’.”

The majority of their Saturday afternoon, and a good part of the evening now, had been spent in Bonnie’s room rifling through her wardrobe. Finding something that wasn’t, as Reina declared, ‘grandma-esque’ proved to be more difficult than they had initially planned.

“I’ll find something…eventually.”

Reina groaned and rolled over to the edge of the bed, accidentally nudging into her duffel. On noticing the bag, Reina perked and began digging through it. She made a small exclamation. “What about this?” She asked, holding up a pastel pink flowy spaghetti-strapped crop top.

Bonnie eyed the shirt dubiously. “That? Are you sure that’s appropriate?”

Reina laughed. “You’re going to a gig, not church. Here, try it on! Take these leggings too.”

Bonnie did, and examined her reflection. “Hmm. I guess…this looks okay…”

Reina rolled her eyes. “You look _hot_ Bonnie.”

Bonnie felt her face flush. It was certainly an… _interesting_ choice of outfit for her. “Are you sure I can wear this? You’re leaving tonight. I won’t be able to give it back to you until I see you again.”

“Pff that’s fine. I’m willing to sacrifice some duds for this noble cause.”

Bonnie giggled. “’Noble cause’. How am I going to leave the house like this, though? I doubt my father will be as approving.”

Reina paused. “Mm true…I forgot the Chief is still here. Oh! Hold on.”

Reina pawed through her bag again, finally producing an olive green jacket with more metal on it than Bonnie was used to seeing outside of a hardware store.

“Wow, are there enough buckles on that thing?”

Reina laughed. “Yeah yeah. Just put it on.”

Reina stood back to take in the entire outfit, nodding affirmatively. “Perfect, and you can button it up before you leave so it’s not too ‘scandalous’.”

“I look like a desaturated watermelon, Reina.”

“A _cute_ desaturated watermelon.”

Bonnie rolled her eyes but couldn’t contain her smile. “All right. Are you all packed?”

Reina hoisted her bags on her shoulders. “Ready to roll, Bonnie.”

“Okay, I’ll walk you out. Thanks for staying to help, I’d truly be lost without you.”

Reina grinned. “Truly.”

Downstairs, the Chief barely glanced up when Bonnie told him she was headed out to ‘study’ and didn’t offer any comment other than to remind her that she was to be back by 11:30.

All of the twins' and Jake's stuff had already been packed. Bonnie helped Reina stuff her bags into the trunk and turned to embrace her friend.

“I’m going to miss you, Reina.”

“Me too, Bonnie. Have fun at your concert. Tell Marceline I said hi. Oh, and tell her goodbye too, I guess heh.”

“Thanks, and I will. Goodbye, Reina.”

“Buh-bye, Bonnie.”

"See you around, Jake." Bonnie waved to the twins in the back seat. "Bye Fionna! Bye Finn!"

Jake nodded and gave a little wave. The twins waved back wildly, and she heard a muffled "Bye Bonnie!" through the glass.

Bonnie watched Jake's car until it turned out of her sight. She sighed.

Nightosphere wasn't too far from Candy Kingdom, so it was still well within walking distance.

She heard the place before she saw it, and she couldn't help but wonder if her agreeing to come was a good idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 'flashy prints are for the fiery pits'  
> -paraphrase of something that was actually said to someone wearing an actual flower pattered skirt by that awful preacher guy irl i wish i was kidding
> 
> I just started summer classes, so updates might take a little longer from this point on ( _maybe_...depending on the workload. we'll see!)


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